Understanding Wind Load for Commercial and Industrial Doors

Loading dock and entrance doors for commercial and industrial buildings are critical to the operations of a manufacturer and the companies involved in their supply chain.

In addition to the important areas of safety and utility cost control is the consideration for wind damage. Industrial doors must meet certain safety and structural requirements for wind load. Let’s explore how MaxDoors meet and exceed these requirements, and, how they perform better against the challenges of strong winds than overhead steel doors:

6 Advantages to Vertical Lift Fabric Doors vs. Strong Winds

Wind Load requirements for industrial and commercial doors should meet a minimum required standard to withstand a wind blast of 20 p.s.f. or 88 m.p.h. for 3 seconds. Doors that are only a single layer of fabric, rubber or steel strive to meet this low wind load rating. Maxdoors can be designed and built for a maintained windload of up to 150 m.p.h. By design, Maxdoor utilizes a variety of beam size, spacing and material to provide the wind load required for any environment.

HIGH WIND LOAD MAXDOOR – 58PSF / 150 MPH

2. Wind Load capacity is a way of determining how strong and well-built the door will be for the end user. The higher the wind load, the more robust and heavy duty the door components will be on the door. Maxdoors maintain their strength, even in very large doors. The horizontal beams in the Maxdoor fabric panel are hidden behind 2 layers of fabric and are what gives the door strength against the wind.

3. Wind Load and how Maxdoor operates is significant to the way wind load is handled. Maxdoor operates like a Roman Shade allowing the weight and wind load to be transferred from the traveling door panel into the door guides at every horizontal beam.

4. MaxDoors are built with a 4”, 6” or 12” thick double layer fabric door panel. The fabric overlaps the door guides to provide a weather tight seal and to maintain a high wind load.

5. Maxdoors are designed to be installed on the interior or exterior side of a wall.

6. MaxDoors are self-supporting and do not put additional load onto the building.

Industrial Door Wind Test Assessment

Do you know if the doors to your facility meet the above requirements? If not, or, you know they do not we strongly recommend that you contact us today for an assessment of your existing doors. Having the right industrial doors in place that meet the requirements for windload will help to create a safer and more efficient working environment for your organization.